Sins of the Past
by midnight16
Summary: This is the sequal it 'Sunlight on the Horizon'. Will Dalamar's father get his just desserts or will this all turn out differently than Raistlin has it all planed? Read and find out. RaistlinXDalamar Slash...implyed rape.
1. Chapter 1

Discalimer  
  
Hello again everyone, This is Midnight. I have already done disclaimers for  
  
Dragonlance before, but again I will do it. I do NOT own any of the Dragonlance  
  
books, Raistlin, Dalamar, or any of the places mentioned herein. I do however own the  
  
plot. This one is strictly an idea of my own, and I would be most appreciative if no  
  
one would steal it.  
  
The general disclaimer for all of Midnight's stories,  
  
THIS IS A YOUI STORY!!!  
  
It is rated R for SEXUAL CONTENT, AND MASSIVE GORE. This is also rated R for  
  
suggested rape. So if you are disturbed by bloodshed, male on male sexuality, or the  
  
thought of rape please leave now or I will not be responsable for nightmares,  
  
disturbing images or any and all of the above. Thank you for flying Youi Air, and  
  
as always, please don't take anything with you.  
  
Have a nice day. ^.~  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Dalamar stirred in his sleep; moaning incoherently. Again, he was in Silvanesti. Again, he was young. Again, he was at his father's mercy. Trapped beneath the older man's weight, he kicked and screamed; fought, and begged to be left alone, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. The older man leaned over him now, his hands roaming to places forbidden. Dark eyes smiled down at him in a drunken stupor. Pale hands locked in ebony hair, yanking harshly to quiet the child's screams of protest. Cool hands caressed the warm skin of his stomach and the young boy thrashed wildly, knowing all to well what was to come.  
  
  
  
"Please father. Do not do this. Please, stop. Please!" Slanted eyes narrowed to paper-thin slits as the hand crossed the boys face, leaving a loud, angry, red welt.  
  
  
  
"Silence boy!" The hand fell again and the whimpering youth fell silent; tears of sorrow and despair clouding his deep chestnut-brown eyes. "You are my child; therefore, you belong to me. I may do with you as I please." The older man's hand traveled down the boy's side, touching.caressing.  
  
* * *  
  
"NO! STOP IT!" Dalamar shot up into a sitting position, his breath coming in shallow gasps. Sweat dripping from his lathe body, he burred his face in his hands giving a heavy sigh. "Gods, it was just a dream."  
  
"More like a nightmare." A sarcastic voice chimed in. Dalamar raised his head to find the voice that had interrupted his thoughts. He was about to say something very rude when he noticed something wasn't quite right. Black walls.black, silk bed sheets.an overhanging canopy, also black.where was he? Out of the corner of his eye, Dalamar saw a shadowed figure rise as if from the depths of the earth. "And, I would like to state that being thrown from one's own bed is not a very enjoyable way to be awoken." Dalamar's brows furrowed in confusion. 'This isn't my room. Why am I here? And for that matter, where exactly is here?' The quite sound of footsteps echoed though out the chamber.  
  
"Who are you, and where am I?"  
  
"How soon we forget, my apprentice." Light laughter came from every direction all at once. "You do not remember where you are. Do you not remember what has happened?" the voice sighed. "'Tis a pity, for I shall never forget." The sounds of rustling came from the same direction as the voice had. A quiet, but firm, command was spoken in the darkness. "Shirak." A dim, white light began to glow, illuminating the pale, fine-boned features of the tower's master.  
  
"Sh.Shalafi, is that you?" Dalamar stuttered out the words in disbelief. He took a closer look at the dimly lit figure and saw that it was indeed. He bowed his head quickly in respect. "Forgive me Shalafi. I.I did not know it was you." Raistlin raised his hand to silence the frantic elf.  
  
"Do not worry Dalamar." Raistlin walked slowly toward the bed, leaving the Staff of Magus lit, leaning against the wall in the far corner of the room. "I have been thrown from my bed before; it is not new to me." Dalamar's eyes traveled the length of his master's body and, noticing his unclothed brilliance, Dalamar's face flushed an intense red and he swallowed hard against the lump in his throat.  
  
"Shalafi?" Raistlin crawled onto the bed and brushed a strand of ebony hair from the dark elves eyes. He shook his head.  
  
"You laid with me last night my dear apprentice." Raistlin ran his thumb over Dalamar's cheek, caressing it gently. Dalamar blushed, and smiled softly.  
  
"I remember now." Raistlin opened his arms and the elf fell into them, shivering uncontrollably. "Please forgive me. I did not mean." Raistlin placed a  
  
finger over Dalamar's lips.  
  
"Hush. It was not your fault love; you were having that nightmare again." Raistlin saw a look of embarrassment cross the other's features. "Yes Dalamar, I know of the nightmare; I know all about it." Raistlin wiped away the tears the cascaded down the elves' ivory flesh. "Dalamar, my sweet Dalamar. The stories are true aren't they? He did do those horrible things to you." When Dalamar stiffened in his master's arms, his eyes becoming wide with the horror of the realization that his most intimate secret had been found out, Raistlin knew he was correct. Raistlin's face twisted in rage. He pulled Dalamar to him. "Don't worry, I will live by what I have sworn to you; do you remember what I have sworn my love?" Dalamar nodded slowly.  
  
"You promised that you would not allow anyone or anything to hurt me again." Raistlin kissed Dalamar's forehead gently.  
  
"I always keep my promises."  
  
* * *  
  
"Dalamar, why didn't you do something about what your father did to you?" Raistlin asked not even turning form the pot he was steering. Dalamar lowered his head.  
  
"I could not Shalafi." Raistlin turned quickly at his apprentice's tone, his wide hourglass pupils dilated in fear for his lover.  
  
"Why ever not?" Dalamar turned away, wrapping his arms around himself protectively.  
  
"He was a wealthy townsman, loved and feared by all. If I had told someone, they would have laughed at the stupid boy. Laughed at the 'false accusations' preached by a cold-hearted, disloyal whelp, who is unworthy of such a high position in society." Dalamar's voice became hard as the talked of his past. "You may have heard the stories, but I know what really happened, for it happened to me. I was practically a slave in my own house! I cooked, I cleaned, I.I did everything, and that still wasn't enough! If I did anything wrong, speak when not spoken to, burn the supper, or even miss one spot of dirt, I was beaten within an inch of my life." Dalamar fell to his knees, his thin body racked with great sobs of despair. Raistlin watched in shocked silence as the elf broke down in front of his very eyes. No words of comfort would come to his lips to sooth his poor lover's heart. "I.I remember many nights when I would be up studying and he would come home, drunk." Dalamar shivered uncontrollably, "No one ever knew he liked young boys; he actually preferred them. I know if mother wasn't home when he." Dalamar's face twisted in disgust, ".when he wanted to fulfill his 'needs', he would make me do unspeakable things with him."  
  
Raistlin dropped to his knees and gathered the elf to him. Dalamar clung to his lover and sobbed. "Oh Shalafi, why won't it stop haunting me? Every night I live through it again; I.I can't take much more of this. Please, help me." Dalamar raised his tear filled eyes to seek an encouraging word or a loving coddle, but what he saw gave him more strength then anything his love could have said. Raistlin's face was hard and his mouth set in a grim line. His golden, hourglass eyes turned a coppery color and they narrowed almost into nonexistence as he protectively held the shaking elf. When he spoke, his voice proved to match his mood, a low growl, coming up from the very depths of his soul.  
  
"He will pay for his perversion." Raistlin pulled Dalamar into a bone-crushing embrace. "I will make him suffer the way he made you suffer." 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
  
"What ever do you mean, Shalafi?" Dalamar looked up at Raistlin in utter amazement; he had never heard him talk like this before.  
  
"Exactly what I said Dalamar. We will make him suffer greatly. Of this I swear." Raistlin stood up, pulling Dalamar up with him. Raistlin used his cloth to dry Dalamar's eyes. "Do not fret my lovely elf, soon you will be able to sleep in peace." He pulled the elf to him, covering his lips with his own. Dalamar responded to the gesture immediately, parting his lips to allow the other entrance. As their tongues fought for dominance, Raistlin backed Dalamar up against a wall. He broke the kiss abruptly, staring down at Dalamar with his now smoldering, golden eyes. "I do not know exactly what happened to you, but I'll be damned if it will ever happen again. Now, come to me my apprentice, and allow me to make you forget all that troubles you."  
  
Dalamar leapt into Raistlin's open arms, and the two kissed again, more passionately than before. Dalamar gave himself completely to his master knowing that everything would all become a blur when the other man touched him. Raistlin's hands moved fluidly over the other's shoulders, releasing Dalamar of his robes. Raistlin stepped back and looked him up and down. Dalamar blushed furiously at his master's gaze.  
  
"As always your radiant beauty takes my breath away." Raistlin moved forward slowly, welcoming Dalamar into his open arms. Dalamar moved swiftly to him wrapping his arms around Raistlin's sleek frame and, placing his lips firmly over Raistlin's, Dalamar took full comfort in the dominating nature of his master. Raistlin broke away from Dalamar, trailing his tongue up the other's neck to nibble on his earlobe  
  
"Take me Shalafi. Please, make me forget about my past; if only just for now." Raistlin let out a low, guttural growl as he threw Dalamar against the counter. Drawing his hands down Dalamar's chest, Raistlin sank to his knees before the elf. Dalamar watched intently as his master's hands moved up and down his naked body, gently running his sharp nails over Dalamar's ribs and down his sides, over his hips and finally coming to his long, hard shaft. The master mage gently stroked the elf; his smooth hands moving agonizingly slow over Dalamar's fully ready member. Raistlin raised his gaze from the throbbing organ and fixed his coppery, golden eyes upon Dalamar's eyes of deep chestnut-brown and smiled. "Shalafi." Dalamar whispered placing his hands on either side of Raistlin's face and letting his thumbs trace their way over the other's eyes. Dalamar sank to his knees beside Raistlin now, bringing them to sit at eye level with one another. "I love you." This was said in such a tone that Raistlin knew exactly what his little elf was thinking.  
  
"Tut tut tut.now Dalamar, must we go into this again?"  
  
"But Shalafi." Raistlin raised his finger and placed it upon Dalamar's full lips.  
  
"Dalamar, I understand. There is now need to tell me what I already know." Raistlin carefully pulled Dalamar to him, placing him upon his lap. The golden mage wrapped his arms protectively around Dalamar's shoulders, allowing them to cross in the center of the other's chest. Dalamar felt his master's breath at his ear and shivered at his nearness. "I will always protect you my dark little nymph. I own you," he placed his fingers upon the bite marks at the base of Dalamar's neck. "Remember that. But also remember," Raistlin turned Dalamar in his arms. "That I gave myself to you as well." He tilted his head to the side, placing Dalamar's lips at the base of his neck.  
  
Dalamar understood this gesture and did as he was silently bayed. Opening his mouth, Dalamar gently sunk his teeth into the soft flesh of Raistlin's exposed neck. Raistlin gasped and threw his head back in ecstasy. His breath came in shallow gasps and pants as Dalamar's teeth sunk deeper and deeper into his sensitive flesh. Raistlin's hand caressed Dalamar's chest, stomach, and than down. Lower and lower Raistlin's hand traveled, but just as Dalamar raised his bloody lips to encourage, to beg for his master's touch, he was thrown to the black marble floor and pinned where he lay.  
  
Raistlin was atop the elf kissing him roughly, his hand gliding up and down Dalamar's smooth skin. Thin, ivory hands loosed the silk cord at Raistlin's waist, freeing him from his robes; he was hard, he was ready. Dalamar wrapped his legs around Raistlin's waist and sat up. Dalamar moved against him; his rigid cock grinding hard against Raistlin, enticing a loud moan. Raistlin dug his nails into Dalamar's shoulders, his sharp nails sinking deep into the flesh.  
  
"Oh gods!" Dalamar panted heavily in Raistlin's ear. "Gods, Shalafi, take me. Make me forget, take me.teach me." Raistlin placed his hands firmly on either of Dalamar's shoulders and slammed him back onto the marble floor. Raistlin smiled cynically.  
  
"Oh, I know what's next. You want me to fuck you my dark little nymph? Do you? Come beg me my apprentice. Make me want you. Give me reason to take you into such highs of physical pleasure that you will be blind and deaf to the world when I a m through." Raistlin hissed his commands, a sadistic sort of gleam shinning in his metallic eyes. Dalamar wriggled and squirmed beneath the great mage, his desire building to unbearable measure.  
  
"Shalafi, please.I beg you."  
  
"You beg me what, apprentice?" Raistlin's hand grasped Dalamar's painfully erect cock and stroked it gently. Dalamar tossed his head back sucking in his breath though clenched teeth and moaning loudly. "Again, you beg me what?" Dalamar, not being in the proper state of mind to keep his words in the language of men, screamed his plea in his native tongue.  
  
"Fuck me Master!"  
  
Raistlin needed no more persuasion; he raised Dalamar's hips and thrust forward, sheathing himself fully in the elves' tight passage. Dalamar thrashed, writhing and screaming in ecstasy as Raistlin pounded into him again, and again, and again.  
  
"Yes, that's it my dark lover, scream for me again!" Raistlin sank his sharp nails viciously into Dalamar's pale flesh. Dalamar groaned at the dark and pleasurable sensation created by his master's unnaturally sharp fingernails digging deeply into chest. Raistlin his flung head back and moaned as Dalamar tightened around him.  
  
"If I must scream, then you shall join me, my golden mage." Dalamar panted as grasped Raistlin's wrist and brought it to his mouth, biting down hard. His efforts were well rewarded with a loud scream of delight and a low growl as Raistlin pounded into him with renewed fervor.  
  
Dalamar felt the end upon him and began thrashing; clawing at the hard marble floor for something, anything to grab a hold of. Then, without warning, Dalamar let out an earth-shattering scream as his climax washed over him in waves of powerful ecstasy. Raistlin soon followed, his screams of pleasure mixing with that of his lover, creating a symphony of carnal lust and love, so powerful it could have deafened any within earshot. Spent, Raistlin collapsed next to Dalamar, panting to regain his breath. Dalamar lay flat on his back, his eyes shut, reveling in the after-sex glow. He could neither feel nor think of anything but his lover.  
  
"Dalamar," Raistlin panted softly. "Dalamar come to me." Obeying his master, the elf rolled onto his side and crawled into Raistlin's awaiting arms. With Dalamar safely wrapped in his arms, Raistlin covered them with his heavy, black, velvet robe and they both fell into a deep sleep. 


	3. Chapter 3

Authors notes: I feel really bad that I haven't updated in a long while and now that I look over the story again I have to amit that I goffed. THIS is chapter three, I am sosorry for the mix-up.So yeah, read and enjoy.

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Raistlin was awoken from his deep sleep by an agonized scream. Standing up hurriedly, the spidery words of magic coming to his mind, lest he need to defend himself, he quickly looked about the room. Nothing was out of the ordinary... nothing was out of place... everything was as it should be... but than, where had that horrid scream come from? As the mage glanced around at the black marble of the room and seeing his discarded robes, he suddenly remembered why he had been sleeping in the kitchen. He quickly looked around for Dalamar and upon seeing the elf, froze in horror.

Dalamar writhed on the floor, small tortured whimpers escaping his bruised lips. "No father, please stop! Someone, help me! Goddess help me!" Another screamed filled the room, sending Raistlin's senses into overdrive and his anger effectively over the edge. He moved swiftly to Dalamar's side and placed a comforting hand on his chest.

"Dalamar, wake up! It is but a dream, snap out of it!" He thought the touch of his hands would be enough to wake the elf from his tormented slumber, but Raistlin's touch only seemed to worsen the dream. Dalamar screamed, clutching at the mage's hand. He sat up, his eyes open wide with unseen horror. "Dalamar..." Raistlin thought to sigh with relief when his lover finally snapped out of the horrific dream, but that sigh soon turned into a scream as he was flung across the room by the panicked elf.

Raistlin's frail body hit the spice cabinet that framed the opposite wall with a bone-shattering crash. The cabinet slowly swayed back and than forward, spilling its contents atop the prone mage. Glass jars and pots came crashing down on and around his exposed body, shattering on impact.

Dalamar looked about, curious as to how he had come to be laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, his robes scattered on the floor beside him. _'The dream, it was only a dream.'_ Dalamar sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. _'Will it ever end?'_ Dalamar stood and was gathering his robes when he noticed something quite peculiar; there were two robes here, not just one. He found this rather odd, questioning the meaning of it, but all questions were soon halted by a muffled moan from the far corner of the room. Dalamar turned slowly and found himself immobilized bye the shockingly horrific scene before him. His hands flew to his mouth, stifling a gasp. Dalamar stared in dismay, for there, lying in a pool of crimson, was his beloved master. Raistlin lay at the foot of the spice cabinet, bruised, bloodied, and all but broken. Shattered glass and pottery lay around and atop his naked form, restricting any sort of movement what so ever.

"Shalafi!" Grasping the other rob firmly in hand, Dalamar ran across the semi-small room and knelt at his master's side, covering him with his robe. "Shalafi, are you alright?" The mage raised his head at the sound of his elves' lovely, albeit worried voice. Dalamar gasped and instinctively shrank away, taken aback by the state of his lover. One of Raistlin's eyes was swollen shut and there was a large gash on his upper shoulder. Raistlin coughed once, fresh blood covering his already stained lips.

"Do I look alright to you, apprentice?" Judging by his tone, the mage was not happy. Dalamar blushed at the stupidity of his question. He bowed his head meekly.

"Forgive me shalafi, it's all my..." the elves' apology was cup short by Raistlin's raised hand.

"Pack your bags Dalamar, we are going to Silvanesti."

Dalamar emerged from the tower and squinted in the bright sunlight. As the cool autumn wind blew from the east, caressing his face and neck as would a lover, it promised of colder and more horrible things yet to come. Dalamar closed his eyes and listened to the world around him. The birds, the wind in the trees, the trickle of a near by stream... all reminded him of home. Thoughts of his home flooded his mind, countless rivers of emotion flowing into the depths of his soul and filling him with a great feeling of drowning, drowning in his own sorrow. Silent, crystalline tears spilled down his cheeks and fell to the ground in soundless remorse. His past had come back to haunt him, as he always knew it would... but this time Dalamar knew it would be different.

A second dark, hooded figure stepped from the shadowed interior of the tower. The master mage winced in the light, pulling his hood farther down to cover his eyes. Raistlin shivered slightly in the late autumn chill, pulling his cloak more tightly around him. From across the courtyard, Raistlin watched Dalamar, his hidden eyes sparkling with adoration. _'My how you have grown apprentice. You are no longer the hollow shell of bitterness you were when you first came to me. You have regained yourself, but you are still haunted by your past and its memories.'_

Raistlin turned then to the tower door to speak the spectral head that now floated just within the doorway awaiting its orders. "Allow none entrance to my tower while I am away. Guard it as if it were your own, for if I come back and it is not precisely as I left it, you will wish that you had been sentenced to hell." Not even waiting for a reply from the apparition, Raistlin turned on his heel to join Dalamar at the other end of the courtyard. Slowly he reach out to him.

Dalamar turned as a thin-fingered hand brushed his shoulder lightly. The elf could not conceal the small, agonized look in his eyes. Rasitlin shook his head, his eyes shimmering out from under his velvet hood like golden gems.

"Dalamar, do not fret. This will all be over soon." Raistlin raised his head, his hood falling back slightly to reveal his beautiful hourglass eyes. He looked at Dalamar, his eyes full of worry and compassion.

"All is ready for our departure, Shalafi." Dalamar bowed low, averting his eyes from the heart-wrenching look on Raistlin's face. "All I await is your order." Raistlin sighed inwardly.

"You needn't come if this hurts you so, Dalamar. I am perfectly capable of doing this, and even so, you may not want to be there when I brake him." Raistlin smiled slightly. "It will be quite..." He paused dramatically, pursing his lips as if to find a suitable word to describe his intent. "... well let us just say it will not be pretty. So it is entirely alright if you stay here, I shan't be gone long." Dalamar squared his shoulders and, with a look of shear determination, shook his head.

"No Raistlin." Dalamar looked into the concerned eyes of his master and felt himself falter, felt himself again falling into a pit of utter despair as the look in Raistlin's eyes changed from concerned to astonished.

"No?" Raistlin was taken aback, Dalamar had never said 'no' to him before. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You say the words no and my given name in the same sentence, apprentice?" Dalamar took a step forward.

"Forgive me, but no Shalafi." The elf knelt before his master. " I will not let you go alone. I cannot let you fight my battles without me by your side." Raistlin looked down at Dalamar, allowing his eyes to be seen from under his hood. His eyes glowed with a warm and loving light that was meant for Dalamar alone. Slowly he nodded.

"Very well my apprentice, but do be careful and watch what you call me and where you do it." Placing a gentle hand atop Dalamar's head, Raistlin ruffled his hair lightly. "Go. Go tend the horses and see that all is ready for our immediate departure." The elf rose to his feet and moved toward the horses. He walked slowly away from the dark figure of his master, all but alone in his mind's eye. A hand on his shoulder stopped Dalamar just short of his chestnut horse. Pale, gold arms wrapped around his shoulders, holding him to his master's taunt body. As Rasitlin spoke into the elf's ear, his hot breath made Dalamar shiver.

"Just because I'm a little cold outside the tower, never think that I do not still love you, my sweet nymph. I will always love you, but we should save face when we are amongst the people of the outside world. Remember Dalamar, I am only as good as my threat and my magic... I would never win in a fair fight. People must fear me, if not for their own safety... than for ours." Dalamar nodded as tears began to stream down his face at the soft words of his master. The tears fell softly onto the mage's gold flesh and he pulled away slowly, leaving Dalamar to his inner turmoil in peace. _'If nothing else, you are strong Dalamar. We will get through this. By Takhisis, your father will pay for what he has done to you. I will protect you my dark, little nymph. Rest assured of that.'_


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Notes: Ok so this was my bad, I actually posted chapter four as chapter three and now I have fixed the error... to little to late for those of you who are ultimately confused as to how they went from doing it to riding horses... sorry.

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Chapter 4

The horses traveled along at a steady pace through the forest, carrying their riders deep into elven territory. No words passed between them as the two mages rode through the emerald forest, until they came to a fork in the path.

"Shalafi, do you think it wise we travel on…it is almost dusk."

"I think it plenty wise to do as I please, apprentice. Who would challenge me, I ask you?" Dalamar shrunk away from his master's stern comment. Raistlin was always different outside of the tower. He liked his kind master much more than this man.

"O…of course, you are right, Shalafi. It is just…the elves do not take kindly to human, or mages of our creed." Raistlin turned, his eyes searching the elves' deeply.

"You turned to the black robes for revenge and retribution and in turn were cast from your home for an action you had no choice but to take?" Raistlin said this as more of a statement of appalled shock than a question, but Dalamar would take no chance of further angering him.

"That is correct Shalafi." Dalamar bowed his head in shame. Raistlin eyes narrowed under his hood.

"I find that I like your elves less and less the more I hear about them." Raistlin smiled slightly at Dalamar. "But if you feel so adamantly about this, we shall stop." Raistlin gently reined the black mare to the side of the road. "Come apprentice, we will camp here for the night."

Night fell slowly over the forest of the elves, soon blackening the sun from the western sky and throwing dark shadows across the camp of the two travelers. Dalamar sat silently by the fireside, stoking the fire lightly with a long stick, his eyes focused, unseeing, on the small creature roasting over the open flame. He had been deep in thought for some time and could not help a small sigh as he turned the end of the spit slowly, exposing the uncooked meat to the flames. Raistlin sat, equally as quiet, on a large log that lay, rotting, on the forest floor just out of the fire's radiance. His golden eyes, sparkling like gems from behind his hood, locked on the forlorn figure of his lover. Depression did not suit the lovely elf and Raistlin was quick to find a way to remedy his sorrowful state.

"Tell me Dalamar, what is Silvanesti like?" Dalamar looked up from the half-cooked rabbit on the spit.

"What's it like?" Dalamar's eyes went to the shadowed figure of his master, question filling their chocolate depths. The question was quite sudden for a person such as Raistlin.

"I believe that is what I said, unless I stuttered." Raistlin smiled gently. "Tell me what it's like." Dalamar walked to where shadows feigned the edge of the fire's light and looked out into the forest, his back to the mage. The night was silent, and Dalamar's voice rang clearly through the glen.

"It's still a beautiful city, of that I am sure, though I have not been there for so long." Dalamar raised his eyes to the sky. There was no light this night except that of the fire and the black moon, Niutari, who hung high in the eastern sky, shedding its dark shadows over the forest. "The city lies on the other side of the large river we camp beside and the Tower of the Stars raises high in the center of the city. The tower itself is carved of what looks to be the finest of pearl but the city is shaped from the most beautiful of rose quartz imaginable. " Dalamar cast his eyes back toward his silent master in confusion. "Shalafi, did you not travel to Silvanesti in your youth? Do you not already know what beauty the city entails?" Raistlin smiled slightly behind his hood.

"Yes apprentice, I have traveled to Silvanesti. I was just trying to pull you out of this slump you seem to have fallen into. I do not enjoy seeing you so." Raistlin opened his arms. "Come, my apprentice." Dalamar turned to fully face his master; his liquid, chestnut brown eyes shedding silent tears. "Come to me." The elf crossed the camp quickly, sinking to his knees in front of Raistlin. Dalamar laid his head on Raistlin's knee, closing his eyes and taking in the strong scent and loving comfort that was his master's embrace. Raistlin stroked the elves' ebony hair in a calming motion. _'Don't worry Dalamar, everything will be alright. You will be able to sleep in peace when I am through.'_

"Shalafi?" Dalamar broke the silence with little more than a whisper.

"Yes Dalamar?" Raistlin eyed the back of Dalamar's head wearily.

"I believe the rabbit is burnt." Dalamar laughed lightly at his comment and looked to the mage, his eyes bright and cheerful. Raistlin smirked at his worry; he had thought Dalamar had fallen back into his depression.

"That is alright, it is only the outside that is burnt." Raistlin stood up and removed the charred rabbit from the spit. He flexed his right arm slightly, dropping his dagger into his hand. He used the blade to quickly strip away the charred flesh, exposing the juicy, inner meat of the rabbit. "There we are. Now, we may eat."

After the mages had eaten their fill and cleaned the campsite of the bones and debris, Raistlin put out the fire with a sharp command and settled down next to Dalamar in his bedroll.

Dalamar awoke later that night to the deep, crimson glow of the red moon, Lunitari. The dream had come to him again; the nightmare he suffered so frequently. Goddess when would it end! Reliving his past night after night would be his undoing and he knew it. He would lose his mind if this kept on.

Shaking away the thought of going off the deep end, Dalamar rose silently. He glanced down at Raistlin, deep in slumber at his feet. He looked so peaceful, so calm in his sleep; almost child-like in his innocence. Dalamar knelt down, kissing the tips of his index and middle fingers and brushed them lightly across Raistlin's lips, gently cupping his cheek. Raistlin made a small noise of satisfaction and turned his face toward the caress. Dalamar smiled lovingly, his master always seemed closest to peace when he slept. The elf rose with the fluidity of a cat on the prowl and, with one last look at the sleeping mage, moved through the forest toward the river.

'_I feel so dirty; I can't believe this. Even after all these years, it still affects me the same way. I wish, if but for one night, I could sleep in peace.'_ Dalamar reached the edge of the Thon Thalas, more commonly known as Lord's River, the border between the outside world and the sacred, elven homeland. He cast his eyes up and down the river, surveying the scenery. _'This brings back memories.'_ Always, after that drunken ass defiled his body, had Dalamar run here to take solace from the world and to cleanse the filth he felt from his body and soul in the crystal, clear water.

Dalamar untied the silken cord belt around his waist and hung it from a nearby tree. He slid his fingers across his chest, opening his robes, bearing his cream colored skin to the night. He shrugged the soft, velvet robes from his shoulders, revealing the five scars upon his chest. They ached as if newly made. He placed his right hand over the holes and shivered slightly. The pain was still there… the pain and the humiliation. This was the price he paid for betrayal. His master had been generous. Better people had suffered far worse for acts of tracery against the golden mage.

The raven velvet slid over his pale skin, cascading down his body in a waterfall of shimmering fabric, and came to pool at his feet. Reflecting the crimson light of the red moon, the deep, black robes took on a blood red huge in the moonlight. He carefully slipped out of his soft, leather boots and set them close to his robes. Leaving his clothing where it lay, Dalamar crossed the short distance between the trees and the edge of the river and, within mere seconds, had once again waded waist deep into the calm stream.

Dalamar cupped his hands in the water and lifted it in his hands to splash it across his face. The water was refreshing; it released his mind, body and soul from the torment of his thoughts, giving him the peace he could not find, even in sleep. Dalamar dropped to his knees in the cool water, bringing the water levels to sit just above his shoulders. He leaned his head back slowly, dipping his relatively long hair into the water. Dalamar brushed his fingers though his shoulder length hair, washing the dust of travel from the ebony locks. He drew his head up, shaking away the excess water. The tiny droplets splashed down upon the surface of the calm stream, disturbing the surface only for a brief moment before returning to their original places allowing the water to resume its glass-like appearance once again. Dalamar used the pure, crystalline water to wash away the images of his past. He felt the immorality of his nightmares peel from his soul as the water washed over him, leaving him whole and clean again.

As he lifted a final bit of water up to cleanse his face, he was startled by a soft sound in the distance. His head whipped from left to right, looking for the source of the sound but he could none. Suddenly all too worried and suspicious, Dalamar waded toward the shore from whence he came and moved back towards the dim light of the fading campfire. He gathered his robes, boots and belt swiftly, his paranoia building with each passing second, and all but ran the remaining distance to the camp.

Upon reaching the camp, the elf was greeted with a most chilling sight; Raistlin was no longer in his bed roll and the staff of Magus had gone missing. Dalamar began to panic as he looked franticly about the camp, his apprehension growing in leaps and bounds as not only thoughts of his master's sudden disappearance but his fate provided his mind.

The elves could have come, swiftly and silently as they always did, and taken Raistlin to the city, but why? The elves he knew and remembered would have sooner killed him than taken a human to their beloved city. Not to mention that Dalamar would have certainly heard a struggle from the river, and there were no signs of bloodshed about the camp. Any solution to the current state of events eluded him. Where was his golden mage?

Dalamar was so lost in thought that he heard not, the soft foot falls come behind him. _'I was not gone for long. What has happened to him?'_ His thoughts were soon interrupted when someone suddenly grabbed him by the waist, begetting a panicked scream from his already terror ridden mind.

"Shh my apprentice, it is but I." Dalamar quickly silenced himself, his posture becoming more relaxed.

"Please Shalafi, do not surprise me so. I…I thought y…you were…" Raistlin quickly span the quivering elf in his arms, bringing them to face one another.

"Shh Dalamar, do not worry, I am here." Raistlin placed a hand on either of Dalamar's cheeks. "Everything is as it should be. There is no need for fright." Raistlin kissed the elf gently. Though Dalamar all but melted intro the kiss, he still shook. Raistlin guided him to the bedroll and they both sat upon it. He gathered Dalamar into his lap gingerly, cradling him in his arms. Dalamar's head fell to Raistlin's chest and he sobbed bitterly, clutching the black velvet of his master's robes in a death grip.

"I…I thought y…you might have been…"

"Hurt?" Raistlin suggested in an amused tone. "No my dark nymph I was not hurt. I noticed you had gone and heard you in the river. I went to see what you were doing." Raistlin smiled his thin lipped smiles full of cynicism. "When I found you missing, I thought something had happen to you," As the mage spoke these words, his arms tightened around Dalamar's waist instinctively. "But no, I would have heard a struggle; you know what a light sleeper I am. Upon coming to this conclusion, I thought of other ways for you to just 'disappear' without my notice. That was when I heard splashing in the river and supposed…" Raistlin was pulled out of his explanation by a rather large sob from his lover, who now violently shook in his gentle embrace. "Dalamar what is it? I am alright, you are alright, nothing is wrong and yet you shake." Dalamar found his tongue but he seemed to be so close to a nervous breakdown he could hardly speak.

"N…no Shalafi, I…it was n…not your safety that con…concerned me the most I… it was mine." Dalamar took a deep breath and sighed, steadying his speech. "I do not feel safe here. When you came up behind me…" Dalamar shuttered visibly and in turn was hugged to Raistlin chest tighter. "When you held me, restrained me, I thought you were…" Dalamar closed his eyes, bowing his head in disgrace and self-loathing. "…my father."


End file.
